Wednesday, July 19th, 2023

Starting mileage: 9305, Distance travelled: 285

Miles hiked: 4

We started the day driving to the Grand Canyon visitors center to catch the shuttle to the other inner canyon trailhead. We hiked down the South Kaibab trail .9 miles to Ooh Aah Point. We traversed intense switchbacks, dropping down 1000 feet in elevation in just under a mile of trail. The views were much more expansive than Bright Angel, culminating in a nearly 360 degree view at Ooh Aah Point, earning its name.

Next we drove out to Desert View Watchtower, also designed by Mary Colter. We scored the last set of timed tickets to go up into the upper floors of the tower, which had been closed the day before. The architecture was intended to blend in with the environment and told the story about some of the native tribes in pictograms on the inner walls of the tower. The Desert View vistas were fabulous, offering 270 degree canyon views. We also learned it was the site of a 1956 passenger jet collision that lead to the formation of the FAA.

We said goodbye to Grand Canyon National Park, impressed by their infrastructure, transportation, and facilities. It was one of the best in that regard compared to all the others we had visited. The drive from Grand Canyon to Mesa Verde was striking. The desert landscape treated us to a rainbow of striking colors; dusty rose to mustard yellow to rusty red to tan and white. Dramatic rock structures uplifted, seemingly out of nowhere randomly in the desert. We watched what looked like a dust storm far off into the distance for 45 minutes until we finally got close enough to realize it was a rainstorm…in the desert! We didn’t plan on stopping at Four corners but it was right on the road we were driving through the Navajo Nation Reservation. There’s not much to recommend it. It was what you’d expect from a tourist trap but the kids got a kick out of it. The blazing heat kept our visit very brief.

We pulled into the campground at Mesa Verde around 6pm, surrounded by rock formations and plenty of wildlife (deer mostly). After dinner Susan and the kids hiked the nearby Knife’s Edge trail to see the sunset. There were at least 8 distinct flowers to capture photos of. The views from the end were awesome and the kids loved getting photos on top of all kinds of rocks. On the way back we saw two deer, a male and a female, hanging out in the pasture.

When we returned from our sunset walk, Brady captured a couple of night sky photos in the absence of artificial light.